A while back I learned a method for setting goals that makes them much more effective. When setting goals you should make sure they fit the SMART criteria. So what are SMART goals?
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Timely
My overall goal is to improve my blog, but that’s easier said than done. How do I hope to achieve such a BIG goal like that? Rather than take it all in one piece, I am going to break it up by making smaller SMART goals that are all relevant to my overall focus. Breaking a big goal up like this will not only help you focus on what you want to achieve and how to get there, but achieving smaller goals will help show that you are making progress.
Obviously these are goals I hope to achieve by the end of the month, making my goal timely, but for the other criteria it gets more complicated. Breaking the goal up into smaller pieces makes it more specific. If your goal is to gain more followers, ask yourself how many more? That makes your goal measurable. I am shooting for attainable goals that are also a challenge for me, and relevant to my overall focus.
My September SMART goals
- Post at least 3 times every week.
- Get to 180 followers on my blog.
- Exceed 650 monthly views.
- Gain 50 more followers on Twitter.
- Send one of my reviews to a literary magazine to get published.
- Take Instagram photos of 5 books.
- Spend some time interacting with bloggers at least 2 times a week.
- Review 5 books that are ARCs.
- Post 6 discussion posts this month.
This method for setting goals can be used in any area of your life. The SMART method to setting goals makes the overall goal feel a lot less overwhelming and much more achievable once you break it down. Studies also show that if you write down your goal, you are much more likely to achieve it.
Let’s chat! Comment below and share your experience with goal setting.
Do you have any goals you’re currently trying to achieve? Have you used the SMART method to write goals before? What other goals do you think would help make my blog better? Have you used goal setting to help you track how to improve your blog? Do you think it is important to set goals?
Devouring Books 
Is that your BuJo???? How prettyyyyyy! I’m obsessed with planning/productivity! 😊 so, love your post! Even though I set monthly weekly and even daily goals and tasks I’ve only shared then once a year on my blog usually in December but I decided to do it quarterly 😊
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I love making lists and goals. Crossing things off always make me feel way better. Do you ever blog about planning or tips to be more productive? Does setting all those goals really help you? I wonder about the effectiveness of goal setting and if it correlates with productivity.
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Oh yes!!!! I’ve been 10,000 times more productive since I started setting goals. I set personal goal, family goals, career goals, self-improvement goals , wellness goals , reading goals , writing goals , blogging goals … all kinda goals lol
I’m posting a series starting in October about setting goals for next year 😊
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Oh my gosh, that’s a lot of goals. You weren’t kidding when you said you are obsessed with planning and productivity. I have done reading goals, but never blogging goals before. I feel like too many goals would make me feel overwhelmed. Do you feel that way ever? Or does planning like that make you feel like you’ve got it all under control? I used to have all these lists and a color coordinated planner, but I felt like I took it too far and became obsessive. So now I’m trying to find a happier medium.
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Planning is super relaxing to me! I don’t take it too hard when I don’t achieve something I just “carry it forward” to next period 😊 I especially love Bujoing because it’s super flexible and creative 😊 I hope you find your happy medium soon!
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I just love journals and planners too. Color coordination is so much fun. I have all these different colored pens. I’ve tried apps and electronic lists, but I have always been a person who likes hard copies of everything I write. I’d like to get into calligraphy to make things so much prettier.
I really have been meaning to do planning for all of my review copies and have them in order by publication date and everything. But I don’t know how to do it with a hard copy journal since I get new copies all the times and the publication dates are never in order. I just don’t know how to organize it the way I want to.
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I also prefer analog to digital! Handwriting stuff on my planners and lists is so relaxing!I collect all kind of stationery too! Especially colored pens and markers because I love color coding too. I use sticky notes or erasable pens to schedule reading and reviewing my books in general but especially ARCs in a BuJo future log or monthly spread. As soon as I get it I schedule reading it 2-3 weeks before the release date and if I get another one with an earlier release date I just erase and reschedule or move the sticky note 😊 however I have to say I do keep a spreadsheet for books as well because I like to keep the links there to GR and all my reviews (blog, GR, amazon etc)
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Sticky notes hmmm. I’d really love to see your reading planners and spreadsheets. I’m interested on how you organize it all. Sounds really cool. I don’t have my review copies organized at all except on goodreads, but I do wind up missing release dates because of the lack of organization sometimes. But also sometimes I need to mood read rather than go with what I was planning. I hand write everything, even my reviews. Obviously I type things after, but I just feel like I get my thoughts out better when I hand write. Plus I love that I have a notebook full of reviews. I pretty much filled it, but now that I’ll be moving to a new notebook I was thinking of maybe planning it in a new way.
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Omg! That’s a great a idea! I’m going to try to write my reviews in my notebooks first!
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I feel so proud to have completely filled a notebook with them. Knowing you’re the same way with handwritten things you will probably feel the same
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Great post! I agree with you that goals should be attainable and not impossible to avoid disappointment. Good luck with your goals 🙂
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There’s a difference between long term and short term as well. Long term I want some crazy things, but in order to get there short term goals really help get focused on how to accomplish the long term ones.
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Good luck with your goals. I’ll help with that twitter one haha. I should probably start goal setting myself.
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I think it really helps you focus on how to get where you want to be.
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Great advice! Good luck, I hope you reach your goals! 💕💖
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Thank you! I’m working hard to achieve them all!
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